Early-March Mid-Week Walking(2012-03-08)

On Thursday, 8th March, Stockton Rambling Club have a mid-week walk in the Swainby area of the North York Moors. Please meet at 10.30 am in Swainby {NZ 476 021} - see the following map.


The walk will not be longer than 9 miles (B-pace).
For further details ring 01642-648682.

---

Sunday Walking to Barnard Castle

On Sunday, 4th March, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Eggleston Abbey area of County Durham. All walks will finish in Barnard Castle {NZ 056 167} - see the following map.

Crown Copyright (2012). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Greta Bridge {NZ 086 131} and will take in How Tallon, Stang Forest, Rutherford Bridge and Startforth.

The B-walk will also commence at Greta Bridge and will visit Haythwaite, East Hope, Brignall Mill and Eggleston Abbey.

The C-walk will set off from Barnard Castle and will follow a circular route that passes through Eggleston Abbey, Mortham Tower and Whorlton.

This is a Route 2 coach pick up and is also an early start (Billingham: 9.00 am, Acklam: 9.15 am and Stockton: 9.30 am).

---

SPECIAL EVENT: Charity Ceilidh (2012-03-03)

On Saturday, 3rd March, Stockton Rambling Club has a special event organised. This will take the form of a charity ceilidh. The event will take place at Kirkby Village Hall and will commence at 7.30 pm. The cost (including a 'Pie & Pies' supper) is £10.00.

For further details on this event please contact George Taylor on 01642-715773.

---

Early-March Mid-Week Walking(2012-03-01)

On Thursday, 1st March, Stockton Rambling Club have a mid-week walk in the Osmotherley area of the North York Moors. Please meet at 10.30 am at the village centre - see the following map.



The walk will not be longer than 8 miles (C-pace).
For further details ring 01642-551803.

---

Sunday Walking to Sutton Bank

On Sunday, 26th February, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Kilburn area of the North York Moors. All walks will finish in Sutton Bank {SE 516 831} - see the following map.

Crown Copyright (2010). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Helmsley {SE 611 839} and will take in Hag Lane, Ampleforth, Bylands Abbey, Oldstead Grange, Kilburn and the White Horse.

The B-walk will commence at Sproxton {SE 613 816} and will visit Holly Bower, Ampleforth, Bylands Abbey and Kilburn.

The C-walk will set off from Ampleforth
{SE 582 787} and will pass through Bylands Abbey, Oldstead Grange, Kilburn and the White Horse.

This is a Route 1 coach pick up and is also an early start (Billingham: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Acklam: 9.30 am).

---

A-Walking: Durham to Bishop Auckland

On Sunday the 12th February, 2012, Bill McTimoney led a group of twelve SRC A-walkers on a walking expedition from near Durham City to Bishop Auckland. The photo below shows the members of our group as we started our journey.


We set off on a north-easterly bearing from our drop-off point on the A167 road (near White House {NZ 265 386}). From here, we made our way to Houghall, Maiden Castle and Shincliffe. We now followed the Weardale Way towards Croxdale Hall.

Leaving the road at {NZ 283 384}, we made our way across the fields to the village of Hett where we stopped for a short lunch break. Continuing from the lunch-stop location, our route then took us in a south-westerly direction to Tudhoe Village, Whitworth Hall Country Park and along Hagg Lane towards Byers Green. At {NZ 229 333} we joined the (now disused) Bishop Auckland/Spennymoor railway track and followed this in a southerly direction towards Binchester and Auckland Park. We took a short tea-break at a disused railway station {NZ 227 328} near Old Park Hall Farm.

We left the railway track at {NZ 225 310} and made our way through High Park and along the northern edge of the golf course towards Auckland Castle. After stopping for a few minutes at the Deer Shelter, we continued through the grounds of Auckland Castle to emerge in Bishop Auckland at about 4:00 pm.

During today's walk we covered a distance of 15.7 miles. We set off at 10:15 am and arrived at our destination at 16:11 pm. The total time taken for the walk was therefore 5 hrs 56 mins. Our moving average was 3.6 mph and our overall average was 2.6 mph.

Thanks for a great day Bill.

Some of the photos that we took during today's walking expedition can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:


Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

---

Late-February Mid-Week Walking(2012-02-23)

On Thursday, 23rd February, Stockton Rambling Club have a mid-week walk in the Sedgefield area of County Durham. Please meet at 10.30 am at the church {NZ 357 288} - see the following map.


The walk will not be longer than 9 miles (B-pace).
For further details ring 01642-654861.

---

Sunday Walking to Osmotherley (2012-02-19)

On Sunday, 19th February, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the South-Western area of the North York Moors. All walks will finish in Osmotherley {SE 456 972} - see the following map.

Crown Copyright (2010). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Swainby {NZ 476 022} and will take in a section of the Cleveland Way leading to Carlton Bank, Amsgill Ridge, Dale Head and Oakdale.

The B-walk will also commence at Swainby and will visit Round Hill, Square Corner, Over Silton and Big Wood.

The C-walk will follow a circular route from Osmotherly and will pass through Hill Top Farm, the Stiltons, Black Hill and Oakdale.

This is a Route 1 coach pick up and is also an early start (Billingham: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Acklam: 9.30 am).

---

Snow Scenes near Swainby(2012-02-05)

Even though our coach was cancelled last Sunday (2012-02-05), some individual groups managed to get out for a trek under their own steam! We (JT and PB) undertook a circular walk from Swainby that took in Swainby Shooting House.

Our route took us from Swainby to the Shooting house via Scarth Wood Farm, Shepherd Hill, Limekiln Bank and Stoney Ridge. Because the sunshine was so warm we sat outside the hut and had our morning coffee and a breakfast bar!

From the shooting house we headed south along a good track towards Faber's Stone where we turned right onto a westerly bearing to cross the moorland terrain near Leystone Ridge. We made our way to Solomon's Lane and its junction with High Lane. Turning right, we progressed along the edge of the woods near Pamperdale Moor - where we stopped for a short lunch break at {SE 472 983}.

Leaving our lunch-stop location, we continued on a northerly bearing to reach the cattle grid at Scarth Nick. The road here was in a treacherous state - in terms of the snow and ice that we experienced. I slipped over - even though I was wearing my MICROspikes! We also came across two abondoned vehicles - one of them a 4x4 which had skidded full-circle off the road!

Continuing our cautious descent we arrived at Scarth Nick Farm and followed Back Lane until we reached a footpath at {NZ 473 016}. Turning right onto this, we trekked across a snow-laden field in order to arrive back at Swainby at 14.58 pm.

We set off from Swainby at 10:34 am and took 4 hrs 24 mins to cover our 8.2 miles circuit. Our moving average was 3.1 mph and our overall average (which includes stop time for photos) was 1.8 mph.

The 'snow scene' photos that we took can be seen by clicking on the yellow button:


The photos that were taken during a similar expedition last year can be viewed using the pink button:

---

Mid-February Mid-Week Walking(2012-02-15)

On Wednesday, 15th February, Stockton Rambling Club have a mid-week walk in the Sadberge area of County Durham. Please meet in the village at 10.30 am - see the following map.


The walk will not be longer than 5 miles (D-pace).
For further details ring 01325-266803.

---

214 Wainwrights Completed

On the weekend of the 3rd February, 2012, Jeff Hunt had a double celebration. Not only did he have a 'special' birthday but he also completed the last of his 214 Wainwright climbs in the Lake District.

Bearing in mind these two great achievements, some of Jeff's friends and family gathered in the Buttermere area to join him for a walk and a birthday celebration.


Jeff's final Wainwright ascent took him (and his guest walkers) from the village of Buttermere up onto Rannerdale Knotts (1165 feet) where they had a picnic lunch - and some outstanding views of the surrounding terrain.

Well done Jeff!
Congratulations on your two successes.

Anyone wanting to know more about the Wainwrights should click on the following button:


The following link will provide more information about:


Finally, some of the photos that we took can be seen by clicking on the pink button:

Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

---

Sunday Walking to Bishop Auckland

On Sunday, 12th February, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Croxdale area of County Durham. All walks will finish in Bishop Auckland {NZ 210 300} - see the following map.

Crown Copyright (2012). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start near Durham and will take in Houghall, Shincliffe, Croxdale Hall, Hett and Byers Green.

The B-walk will also commence near Durham and will visit Shincliffe, Croxdale Hall, Hett and Binchester Crag.

The C-walk will set off from Sunderland Bridge {NE 266 376} and will proceed along the Weardale Way.

This is a Route 3 coach pick up and is also an early start (Acklam: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Billingham: 9.30 am).

---

A-Walk: Lazenby to Guisborough (2012-01-29)

On Sunday, 29th January 2012, SRC member Jill Johnson (pictured below) led a group of seven energetic A-walkers on an exciting trek from Lazenby to Guisborough.


Our route took us from Lazenby across Eston Moor and The Flatts in order to reach Newton-under-Roseberry. From here, we went along the Cleveland Way (CW) in an easterly direction to Slapewath where we joined the Cleveland Street (CS) footpath. We followed this in a north-easterly direction to {NZ 648 164} where we took a northerly path that led us up to Airey Hill Lane {NZ 649 173}. We now re-joined the CW (again) which took us back towards Slapewath. At {NZ 640 164} we left the CW and made our way to Waterfall Farm and then Low Waterfall Farm. We now rejoined the CS footpath (again) which took us into the centre of Guisborough.

We set off at 9.42 am and finished our trek at 16.10 - giving us an overall elapsed time of 6 hours 27 minutes. During this time we covered a distance of 17.6 miles and had three good climbs - Eston Nab, Roseberry Topping and Hutton Gate. We had a single refreshment stop at 13.15 in the disused quarry at Highcliff Nab {NZ 609 139}.

Thanks to Jill for an exciting walk and a wonderful day out.


Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

---

Early-February Mid-Week Walking(2012-02-09)

On Thursday, 9th February, Stockton Rambling Club have a mid-week walk in the Piercebridge area of County Durham. Please meet at 10.30 am in Piercebridge {NZ 211 159} - see the following map.

Crown Copyright (2009). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The walk will not be longer than 9 miles (B-pace).
For further details ring 01642-805701.

---

SPECIAL EVENT: Slide Evening (2012-02-08)

On Wednesday, 8th February, Stockton Rambling Club has a special event organised. This will take the form of a slide show and talk entitled 'Walking on the North York Moors' which will be given by David Rodway. The venue for this event is Stockton Library commencing at 7.30 pm

For further details on this event please contact Bill McTimoney
on 01740-644347.

---